The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on January 13 that rail traffic was up for the first week in 2011 ending January 8, with U.S. freight railroads originating 285,108 carloads, up 20.1 percent compared with the same week last year.
Intermodal traffic for the week totaled 213,665 trailers and containers, up 8.6 percent compared with the same week in 2010, with container volume up 10 percent and trailer volume up 1 percent.
Fifteen of the 20 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2010.
Carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 18.9 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, carload volume was up 20.9 percent compared with the same week in 2010.
The full report is available on the AAR website.